Pasta Cacio e Pepe

By John, 23 December, 2024
Region
Italy
Description

"Rigatoni Cacio e Pepe"Cacio e Pepe (say KAHT-cho ay PEP-ay) is a traditional Roman dish of local pasta dressed with a wonderfully cheesy sauce that, like Fettucini Alfredo, has a creamy texture but no cream. The zip of the black pepper heightens the richness of the cheese and butter that, together with some starchy pasta water, form the sauce. 

The method here was developed by J. Kenji López-Alt of Serious Eats, one of my favorite food blogs, with his trademark attention to optimizing a recipe to highlight the best parts of a dish.

Yield
6 Servings
Preparation time
5 minutes
Cooking time
15 minutes
Total time
20 minutes
Ingredients
6 T Olive oil
2 t Fresh-ground Black Pepper
1 lb Pasta (long pasta or rigatoni)
4 T Butter (Unsalted)
4 oz Pecorino Romano Cheese (very finely grated, use a microplane if you can)
1 T Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Instructions
  1. In a medium skillet, heat olive oil and black pepper over medium-low heat until ingredients are fragrant and pepper is barely starting to sizzle, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat.

  2. In a second pan that can be covered, place the pasta and cover it with hot water. Season with a small pinch of salt, then bring to a boil over high heat, prodding pasta occasionally to prevent it from clumping. Cook until the pasta is al dente (typically about 1 minute less than the package recommends). Transfer 2 to 3 tablespoons of pasta cooking water to the skillet with the olive oil-pepper mixture. Stir in the butter.

  3. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer the pasta to the oil-pepper-butter mixture.

  4. Add cheese and another tablespoon olive oil to the skillet and stir with a fork until the cheese is completely melted. Add a few more tablespoons of pasta water to the skillet to adjust consistency, reheating as necessary until the sauce is creamy and coats each strand of spaghetti. Season to taste with salt and more black pepper. Serve immediately, passing extra grated cheese and black pepper at the table.

Notes

Very finely grated cheese works best here, and a microplane is a great way to get it cheese that melts into a sauce that evenly coats the pasta.

Source

https://www.seriouseats.com/spaghetti-cacio-e-pepe-recipe